Pick a Bale of Cotton | Free Music Lesson Plan (Tempo Terms)

Music Lesson Plan

Step 1
Teach Pick a Bale of Cotton to your music students.

Step 2
Tell students, "We're going to learn about tempo. Tempo has to do with how fast or slow the music goes. There are many different Italian terms that tell a performer how fast to play. Today, we'll learn three of them!"

Step 3
Tell students, "The first tempo term is Andante. This is an Italian word that means 'walking speed.'"

Step 4
Ask the students to spread out around the room and face you.

Step 5
Tell students, "I'll teach you the actions for the song, and then we'll perform it at an Andante tempo."

Step 6
Teach the actions as suggested by the lyrics.

Jump Down - Jump
Turn Around - Turn
Pick a Bale of Cotton - Bend over to pick cotton

Step 7
Check for understanding. Ask students, "How fast is Andante?"

Step 8
Perform Pick a Bale of Cotton at an Andante tempo.

Step 9
Tell students, "The second tempo term is Adagio. This Italian word means 'slow.'"

Step 10
Perform Pick a Bale of Cotton at an Adagio tempo.

Step 11
Check for understanding. Ask students, "How fast is Adagio?"

Step 12
Tell students, "Our third tempo term is Allegro. This Italian word means 'fast!'"

Step 13
Perform Pick a Bale of Cotton at an Allegro tempo.

Step 14
Check for understanding. Ask students, "How fast is Allegro?"

Step 15
Review all three tempo terms (Adagio, Andante, and Allegro).

Step 16
Perform the song at an Allegro tempo one last time to send the kids away smiling!